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More conferences adopt attendee code of conducts

Over recent years, concerns have been raised about open source conferences and the conduct of attendees not being conducive to inclusiveness, due to verbal or physical harassment by a small number of people. Now conferences are being asked for, and adopting, codes of conduct for attendees.

Just before the start of OSCON, Tim O'Reilly, founder of publisher and conference organiser O'Reilly Media, announced that the company would be introducing a code of conduct, based on O'Reilly's blog post. O'Reilly said "We invite you to help us make Oscon a place that is welcoming and respectful to all participants."

The move was welcomed by the Ada Initiative, a group dedicated to supporting women in open technology, after months of quiet campaigning. The latest conference to adopt a code of conduct is the Desktop Summit, which has just published its "Conference Attendee Policy" for the Summit which runs from 6 to 12 August in Berlin. The policy lists what is considered harassing behaviour and that attendees engaging in such will be asked to stop and comply immediately. Failure to do so could result in expulsion from the event.